How to remove shortcut virus in windows xp

Download and install the program , then analyze the infected pen drive or memory card. Restore the information before cleaning the drive from the virus. The most reliable method is to clean the pen drive with the command DiskPart, which will remove all data.

After recovering data from the pen drive, you can clean it entirely with the help of diskpart. Removing all files and formatting the device may still miss the virus hiding in the boot sector, partition table or unallocated area of the drive.

Watch the video to see how to clean a pen drive properly. This method cannot clean your pen drive from all kinds of viruses for sure, but it can help you to get rid of the shortcut virus. Enter the command j: and press Enter where j: is the letter of the USB drive infected by a virus. The easiest and most reliable way to clean the computer from the virus is to completely reinstall Windows, with removing the system partition. Modify the Windows registry to prevent the virus from auto-starting.

View all keys located there. If you see an unusual name or location of a program, remove the entry. Often viruses are hiding under automatically generated names, such as sfdWQDdcfF. To remove a key, select it by left click and press Del. Disable the virus auto-start in Windows Services. In the window that opens, jump to the tab Services. View them and disable all that seem to be suspicious. To prevent a suspicious app from starting, right-click on it and select Disable.

Read more. This utility is designed to recover data from deleted partitions and repartitioned disks. Follow these steps:. The list of physical devices is under the list of logical partitions. Select your drive and wait for the analysis to complete. It depends on the payment method you use. If you order online with your credit card or PayPal, you will receive the registration key immediately after payment. For successful recovery, you must stop using the storage device until the necessary files are fully restored.

Each CD would likely have an autorun. Make sure to read my previous post on the difference between autorun and autoplay , which are similar, but different. Unfortunately, the AutoRun feature had been abused by some malicious people. A virus from USB flash can now be attached to autorun. This would allow hackers to track your keystrokes to steal personal information like passwords and banking information.

While AutoRun is a great feature, disabling it might be the best way to prevent infected autorun. Note: You can also use the drop-down menu to select the default action whenever you insert an external device. If you suspect that your USB drive has a virus, deleting the autorun. Open the USB drive found on the left-hand side panel.

This action will show you the content of the USB. Typical error messages or pop-up messages might contain the following phrases:. Do not click anything inside the dialog box. Are you sure you want to navigate from this page? Your computer is infected! They can cause data lost and file corruption and need to be treated as soon as possible. Return to System Security and download it to secure your PC. Press OK to Continue or Cancel to stay on the current page. For more information see Protect yourself from tech support scams.

Removing a computer virus or spyware can be difficult without the help of malicious software removal tools. Some computer viruses and other unwanted software reinstall themselves after the viruses and spyware are detected and removed. Fortunately, by updating the computer and by using malicious software removal tools, you can help permanently remove unwanted software. For more information about how to remove a computer virus and spyware, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: - Microsoft resources and guidance for removal of malware and viruses.

Note A computer virus may prevent you from accessing the Microsoft Update website to install the latest updates. We recommend that you set the Automatic Updates service to run automatically so that a computer is not missing any important updates. Microsoft offers a free online tool that scans and helps remove potential threats from your computer. To perform the scan, go to the Microsoft Safety Scanner website. Note the name of the rogue security software. For this example, we'll call it XP Security Agent When you are prompted, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking , and then press Enter.

Click the Start button and check whether the rogue security software appears on the Start menu. If it's not listed there, click All Programs and scroll to find the rogue security software's name.

Right-click the name of the rogue security software program, and then click Properties. In the Properties dialog box, check the path of the rogue security software program that is listed in Target.

Note The folder name frequently is a random number. In the Program Files window, click Program Files in the address bar. Scroll until you find the rogue security software program folder. For example, XP Security Agent Go to the Microsoft Safety Scanner website. If you suspect that your computer is infected with rogue security software that was not detected by using Microsoft security solutions, you can submit samples by using the Microsoft Malware Protection Center submission form.

Microsoft Defender Offline is an anti-malware tool that helps remove difficult to eliminate viruses that start before Windows starts. Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft Defender Offline is built-in. Click Download the 32 bit version or Download the 64 bit version , depending on which operating system that you are running.

If you're unsure of which operating system that you are running, see Is my PC running the bit or bit version of Windows.

When you are prompted, press a key to select an option to use to start your computer, such as F12, F5, or F8, depending on the kind of computer that you are using. Use the arrow key to scroll to the drive where you installed Microsoft Defender Offline file.

Microsoft Defender Offline starts and immediately scans for malware. Confirm that the Windows firewall is turned on.

See Turn Microsoft Defender Firewall on or off for instructions on how to do that on modern versions of Windows.